1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a searching apparatus, a searching method, and a searching system for searching for information using images.
2. Description of the Related Art
A technique is already known in which objects and pieces of cooperative information that cooperate with objects are stored in a server or the like in association with each other, and an object corresponding to an object included in an image captured by a user is searched for in the server (see Japanese National Publication of International Patent Application No. 2009-506393). A technique that presents cooperative information associated with an object searched for to a user is also already known.
In some cases, the server stores therein a second object that is very similar to a first object included in an image captured by a user and with which cooperative information different from that of the object is associated. In such a case, as a result of a search based on an image including the captured first object, this second object can be searched for and hence cooperative information expected by the user cannot be obtained.
For example, there may be a case in which with second objects being thumbnail images formed by reducing the first objects, the first objects are associated with unique cooperative information, while a list of the respective second objects that are based on the respective different first objects is associated with the second objects as cooperative information. In such a case, because the second object is formed by reducing the first object, the second object may be searched for as a result of a search based on an image including the first object.
The present invention has been achieved in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to attain a more appropriate search result by an image-based search.